I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2980 

To provide for the establishment of the Entry Adjudication through General 

Legal Expertise Corps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2019 

Mr. CRAWFORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education 

and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Entry Adjudication 

through General Legal Expertise Corps, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eagle Corps Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENTRY ADJUDICATION THROUGH GENERAL LEGAL 

7 EXPERTISE CORPS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; COMPOSITION; PURPOSE.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—For the purpose of ame2 liorating delays in the adjudication of cases by the 

3 immigration courts and other inefficiencies in the 

4 administration of the immigration laws, there is es5 tablished, within the Executive Office of Immigra6 tion Review within the Department of Justice, the 

7 Entry Adjudication through General Legal Expertise 

8 Corps (or EAGLE Corps) (hereinafter in this Act 

9 referred to as the ‘‘Corps’’), which shall consist of— 

10 (A) such civilian employees of the United 

11 States as the Attorney General may appoint; 

12 and 

13 (B) such other individuals who are not em14 ployees of the United States. 

15 (2) PURPOSE.—The Corps shall be utilized by 

16 the Attorney General to provide legal services for the 

17 United States before the immigration courts. The 

18 Corps shall also include employees to provide admin19 istrative and support services. 

20 (3) TERM.—Each member of the Corps shall 

21 serve for a period not to exceed 24 months. 

22 (b) RECRUITMENT AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS.— 

23 (1) The Attorney General may conduct at law 

24 schools the Loan Repayment Program. Such recruit25 ing programs shall include efforts to recruit individVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980

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1 uals who will serve in the Corps other than pursuant 

2 to obligated service under the Loan Repayment Pro3 gram. 

4 (2) In the case of attorneys who have an inter5 est and a commitment to providing legal services for 

6 the United States before the immigration courts, the 

7 Attorney General may establish fellowship programs 

8 to enable such attorneys to gain exposure to and ex9 pertise in the provision of such legal services. To the 

10 maximum extent practicable, the Attorney General 

11 shall ensure that any such programs are established 

12 in conjunction with other legal training programs. 

13 (c) TRAVEL AND MOVING EXPENSES; PERSONS EN14 TITLED; REIMBURSEMENT; LIMITATION.— 

15 (1) The Attorney General may reimburse an ap16 plicant for a position in the Corps for the actual and 

17 reasonable expenses incurred in traveling to and 

18 from the applicant’s place of residence to an eligible 

19 site to which the applicant may be assigned. The At20 torney General may establish a maximum total 

21 amount that may be paid to an individual as reim22 bursement for such expenses. 

23 (2) The Attorney General may also reimburse 

24 the applicant for the actual and reasonable expenses 

25 incurred for the travel of 1 family member to accomVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980

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1 pany the applicant to such site. The Attorney Gen2 eral may establish a maximum total amount that 

3 may be paid to an individual as reimbursement for 

4 such expenses. 

5 (3) In the case of an individual who has entered 

6 into a contract for obligated service under the Schol7 arship Program or under the Loan Repayment Pro8 gram, the Attorney General may reimburse such in9 dividual for all or part of the actual and reasonable 

10 expenses incurred in transporting the individual, the 

11 individual’s family, and the family’s possessions to 

12 the site of the individual’s assignment. The Attorney 

13 General may establish a maximum total amount that 

14 may be paid to an individual as reimbursement for 

15 such expenses. 

16 (d) MONTHLY PAY ADJUSTMENTS.—The Attorney 

17 General may, under regulations promulgated by the Attor18 ney General, adjust the monthly pay of each member of 

19 the Corps. During the 24 months in which such a member 

20 is so engaged in the delivery of legal services, the monthly 

21 pay of that member may be increased by an amount which 

22 when added to the member’s monthly pay and allowances 

23 will provide a monthly income competitive with the aver24 age monthly income from a practice of an individual who 

25 is a member of the profession of the Corps member, who 


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1 has equivalent training, and who has been in practice for 

2 a period equivalent to the period during which the Corps 

3 member has been in practice. 

4 (e) EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.— 

5 The Attorney General shall ensure that adequate staff is 

6 provided to the Service with respect to effectively admin7 istering the program for the Corps. 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

9 (1) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart10 ment of Justice. 

11 (2) The term ‘‘Loan Repayment Program’’ 

12 means the Loan Repayment Program established 

13 under section 4. 

14 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes, in addition to 

15 the several States, only the District of Columbia, the 

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth 

17 of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, 

18 Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of 

19 the Pacific Islands. 

20 (4) The term ‘‘Corps’’ means the Entry Adju21 dication through General Legal Expertise Corps. 

22 (5) The term ‘‘Corps member’’ means each of 

23 the officers, employees, and individuals of which the 

24 Corps consists pursuant to paragraph (1). 


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1 (6) The term ‘‘legal services’’ means legal rep2 resentation in any proceeding before an immigration 

3 court. 

4 SEC. 3. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

5 The Secretary of Education shall, subject to such 

6 terms and conditions as the Secretary, in consultation 

7 with the Attorney General, may by rule establish, repay 

8 or cancel the outstanding balance of principal and interest 

9 due on the Federal loans and private education loans of 

10 a borrower. The term ‘‘Federal loan’’ means a loan made, 

11 insured, or guaranteed under title IV of the Higher Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). The term 

13 ‘‘private education loan’’ has the meaning given the term 

14 in section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act. 

Æ 


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